Nevada Contract Litigation
In the event of a party breaching, or not fulfilling the terms of a contract, it can lead to substantial financial losses and put the financial stability of an organization at risk. Consequently, contentious litigation often follows regarding the terms of the contract, the rights and duties of each party, and the available remedies.
Contracts are often the cornerstone of a business. Contracts can be created to address potential future problems when it comes to the relationship between the business, its employees, the partners who own the business, and any outside parties that do business with the enterprise in question.
It would be ideal if legally binding contracts weren’t needed. In a perfect world, you get into a business relationship with someone and there would be enough trust and common sense that legally binding forms would not be needed. However, in the real world, contracts are your body armor against attacks that can lead to serious repercussions.
In scenarios where individuals and businesses breach or disregard the terms of a contract, a skilled contract litigation attorney can apply their legal expertise and negotiation skills to resolve the ensuing dispute. Our Reno-Based Business Attorneys can help guide you through any potential legal action. We’ve got the reputation and experience to confidently help you get to where you need to be. If you’re facing issues relating to contracts between you and employees, business partners, or outside parties, give our firm a call.
Protecting Your Business From Contract Litigation
Types of Contract Breaches
Having the proper contracts in place can help your business insulate itself from litigation. There’s various ways breaches can occur including but not limited to:
- Minor Breaches: This can occur when one party fails to fulfill some part of their obligation, but the deliverable is eventually received. In such instances, the adversely affected party can only seek legal recourse if they prove that the breach caused them financial losses.
- Anticipatory Breach: The party responsible for the breach is not only liable if the breach has already happened. An Anticipatory Breach refers to a situation where there is yet no actual breach, but one party has already conveyed their inability to complete their obligations under the contract. The indication of an Anticipatory Breach can arise in explicit notice from the party that they cannot fulfill their duties or based on actions that indicate their inability or unwillingness to deliver.
- Material Breach: A Material Breach happens when one party receives substantially less benefit or a significantly dissimilar outcome than stated in the contract. The breach could involve failing to perform the obligations as laid out in the contract or failing to do them on time. In scenarios of Material Breach, the adverse party can claim damages related to the breach, both direct and indirect, as its consequence.
Elements of a Contract
Before a breach can occur, there needs to be a contract in place. In Nevada, a contract must have certain elements for it to be considered an enforceable contract. This 4 elements are as follows:
- There must be an offer: An offer is a proposal made by one party to another, with the intention of creating a legally binding agreement. An offer can take many forms, including a written or verbal agreement, and it must be made with specific terms in mind. The terms of an offer may include things like price, delivery time, quality, quantity, and other important details.
- The offer must be accepted: In order for an agreement or contract to be valid, it is essential that both parties involved have a clear understanding of the terms of the deal and that there is mutual acceptance of the offer.
- There needs to be a Meeting Of The Minds: For a contract to be formed, there must be a mutual understanding between the parties involved, which is commonly referred to as a meeting of the minds. This requires both parties to communicate and come to an agreement on their respective obligations and responsibilities before entering into the contract.
- There needs to be consideration: This is what distinguishes a contract, where services or goods are exchanged from one party to another versus simple gift giving. Essentially, consideration is assigning value to what is being exchanged.